Land anchor



B- A. OLIVER Dec. 7, 1948.

LAND ANCHOR Filed Dec. 6, 1945 Patented Dec. 7, 1948 Benton A. Oliver, Bloomington, Ind. Application December 6, 1945, Serial No. 633,226

3 Claims. (Cl. 189-92) The-invention relates to a land anchor which cane be,v readily and securely fastened in the ground, and which when so secured will func tion tom-brace fence posts, telephone and telegraphpoles, etc., and generally for the anchoring of guy-wires.

One of the objects of the present invention is to:provide a construction which can be driven into. the ground with the same ease as any ordinary rodlinn 1 Another object ofthe invention is to provide a construction inwhich the blades are removably connected to the body orzshaft, thereby providing-a very strong construction. l--.A.further object-of the invention is to provide a i device of this character which is adjustable to different characters of land where. it may be employed; or, more specifically, to provide means for varying the number of anchor blades em ployed depending upon the character of the land.

Various other objects and advantages of the inventionewill be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational, view of the lower portion'of theanchor; Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the shaft of the device and showing two of the blades in open position;

Figure 3 is a detail view of a portion of the anchor shaft showing an opening through which the blade shank is inserted;

Figure 4 is a similar view showing an opening into which the end of the blade shank extends;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the blades before attachment to the shaft; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary View looking at the end of the blade shank.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, numeral l indicates the body or shaft of the anchor which is preferably hollow and provided with a pointed end 2. Only the lower portion of the anchor shaft is shown in the drawing but, of course, it will be understood that the shaft may be of any desired length and of any desired diameter, and is provided with means for attaching guy-wires or the like.

The anchor shaft is provided at vertically spaced intervals with diametrically opposed circular openings or apertures to receive the shanks of the anchor blades. These pairs of opposed openings may be spaced wertically as desired, and there may be any desired number of them.

In Figure 1 three pairs of the openings are shown and blades are mounted in two of them.

The preferred construction of the diametrically opposed openings is best illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 shows one of the circular openings 3 into which the shank of the anchor blade is inserted, and this opening is preferably provided with a notch or slot 4 for a purpose which will later appear. Figure 4 shows the opening 5 on the opposite side of the shaft into which extends the end of the blade shank. This opening is, in the specific form illustrated, three-fourths complete, that is, a quadrant 6 remains projecting into the circular opening. As will later appear, this particular construction prevents the blade from passing a vertical position when the anchor is being driven into the ground or at any other time, and also prevents the blade from passing a horizontal position when the shaft is rotated in the ground to secure the anchor. Of course, the'invention is not limited to this particular structure.

Referring now particularly to Figures 2, 5 and 6, the anchor blades, which are shown as removable from the anchor shaft, are indicated by numeral 1. These blades, which may be of any desired metal, are preferably made of steel and of course they are of any desired shape and size. In the specific form illustrated, they are flat and the edge thereof, which is preferably curved, is sharpened.

Each of the blades is provided with an integral shank 8 extending at right angles thereto. As best shown in Figure 5, the shank 8 has a circular portion 9 adjacent to the base of the blade; the diameter thereof being such that it will fit neatly into the openings provided in the anchor shaft. This circular portion of the shank is preferably provided with a smallprotuberance or knob II], as shown in Figures 2, 5 and 6. This knob is for removably locking the anchor blades to the anchor shaft as will appear hereinafter. outwardly of the circular portion 9 the shank has a half cut-away portion so that a semicircular portion ll remains with a fiat surface I2. This portion of the shank extends into the opening 5 and prevents the anchor blade from passing a vertical or horizontal position, as will appear hereinafter. The invention is not limited, of course, to this particular stop arrangement. As all of the blades are of the same construction the above description of one of them is sufficient.

As previously mentioned, the anchor shaft is provided with any desired number of pairs of opposed openings, and the number of blades mounted therein will vary with the character of the ground in which the anchor is used.

To mount a blade on the anchor shaft the shank 8 is introduced. through the desired opening 3. In order to do this the knob In on the shank must align with the notch 4 of the opening. By reference to Figures 5 and 6 it will be noted that the knob is so positioned circumferentially on the shank, with respect to the blade, that the blade must be in an upwardly inclined position when the knob passes through the notch, and thus the blade drops by gravity to carry the shaft, and that by forming the blades separately and providing the anchor shaft with a number of pairs of openings the number of blades used can be Varied in accordance with the character of the ground where the anchors are used.

While I have described the preferred form of the invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and all such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

knob past the notch and thus lock the blade to tion H enters the opposed opening 5, and when v the blade drops or is moved to horizontal position the flat surface i2 of the shank will strike against the horizontal surface l3 of the quadrant 6E, and thus prevent the blade from passing beyond the horizontal position. And when the bladeis moved to vertical position, the flat surface 52 will strike against the vertical surface M of the quadrant, and thus prevent the blade from pass-- ing beyond the Vertical position.

When the anchor is driven into the ground the blades will move upwardly to a Vertical position and thus will offer practically no resistance. After the anchor has been driven into the ground to the desired depth and with the desired number of blades, the anchor shaft is rotated and the blades then move outwardly and downwardly to a horizontal or. substantially horizontal position, so that the flat surfaces of the blades offer very great resistance to the withdrawal of the anchor.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have devised a land anchor which can be readily inserted in the ground, that by forming the blades separately and removably mounting them in the manner described I have produced an unusually strong mounting with no parts to bend or break, as in the case of anchor blades which are permanently hinged to the What I claim is:

1'. A land anchor including a hollow shaft having diametrically opposed openings, one of said openings having a notch, a blade having a shank mounted in said openings, and a knob on the surface of the shank, said knob entered into the hollow shaft through said notch and removably locking the blade to the shaft.

2. A land anchor including a hollow shaft-having diametrically opposed openings, 2; blade having a shank mounted for rotation about its axis in said openings, a stop memberprovid'edi'n one of said openings, and saidshank having asurface to engage said step and thereby limit the-rotat tion of the shank about its axis.v

3. A land anchor including a hollow sharthaving a plurality of pairs ofdiametrically opposed openings, blades having shanks mounted: in said opposed openings of each pair,one of said openings having a notch, a knob on the surface of each of said shanks, said knob entered into the hollow shaft through saidnotch and 'removably locking the blade to the shaft, a stop member provided in the opposed opening, and each of said shanks having a surface to engage said step andthereby limit the" up and down movement of the" blade.

BENTONv A. OLIVER.

REFERENCES ctTEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATESQPATENTS 7 Number Name Date 745,153 Childress Nov. 24,1903 1,264,682 Reid Apr. 30,1913 2,217,271 Handel Oct. 8, 1940 

